


Grophet's Gambit - The Assault

by DancingHare



Category: Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-16
Updated: 2018-04-16
Packaged: 2019-04-23 19:48:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14339706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DancingHare/pseuds/DancingHare
Summary: Coalition forces assault the crew's homestead.





	Grophet's Gambit - The Assault

Though the droids had hauled away the bodies, the sand outside the Tatooine homestead was still stained dark with blood. Kazta had expected the coalition to launch an attack, but she hadn’t been certain just how intense it would be. They were, after all, only a small crew against the combined might of the Empire and the Hutts — at least one Hutt. They were probably seen as a minor irritation to be swatted aside, and little more. Kazta had to wonder if they believed that now. Three transports of mixed Imperial soldiers, hired mercenaries, and pirates had assaulted the homestead, as well as a walker. Fortunately, they’d been preparing. Kazta had already inventoried what weapons and munitions were left behind, and Ema had turned up some more — maybe she’d bought them, Kazta wasn’t going to ask right now. She’d also managed to get the turrets operational, which made their position much easier to hold. Most unexpectedly, they’d had some help from above in the form of Gin, flying a Republic fighter that Kazta was frankly shocked they’d given to him. Maybe he had some strings that she wasn’t aware of, either way she was happy to see the Imperial shuttles go down.

They’d had some injuries on their side, the old jedi seemed to have taken the worst of it. He refused to stay in the med room and insisted that he was fine, but Kazta was worried for him. Perhaps once his pride had a chance to soothe itself, she’d try to talk him into seeing one of the medics. Son, in spite of his impressive new armor, also got rattled a bit, but he seemed to quickly bounce back to his usual strange self. Kazta hadn’t asked what brought the captain back, but not everyone was happy to see him. Shani punched him right in the jaw, which she had to admit he kind of deserved. Hopefully things would be back to normal once they’d all had a chance to talk, yet Kazta still couldn’t shake a feeling of unease.

She realized later what it was, all at once as she was disassembling and cleaning her weapon. It had just been a glimpse, a half a second, and in the middle of the firefight Kazta hadn’t even realized what she was looking at. After Kazta had dispatched the commandos attacking herself and the jedi, she’d heard Shani struggling with another. Through the sights of her scope Kazta saw them in close combat, and she recognized the move that Shani had done. She recognized it because nearly every Imperial soldier she’d fought used similar moves. Was it a coincidence? Possibly. Or, Kazta reminded herself, Shani could have been owned by someone in the Empire at one time. There were perfectly plausible reasons, weren’t there? But back at the cantina, Shani had said something that Kazta remembered now, that maybe she shouldn’t fully be trusted either. During the heat of things, she’d felt they truly were beginning to operate as a team, but now doubt began to nag at her. What did she really know about any of their motives? Perhaps it didn’t matter, Kazta reminded herself, so long as the end goal was the same. It’s what she had told herself that first night, and she believed it still held true today.


End file.
